Early Years Assistant

The Hundred of Hoo Nursery has an exciting opportunity for a suitably qualified and enthusiastic individual to join their friendly and collaborative team in the role of Early Years Assistant. We are incredibly proud of our achievements and the environment we offer the children in our care, and our successful candidate will be joining a highly experienced, friendly and encouraging team who will welcome you with open arms! 

Our nursery is open throughout the year with three set closure periods; 1 week at Christmas and 2 weeks during the middle of the summer break. Our successful candidates must have a relevant Level 3 childcare qualification. This role is going to be based working in our 2-3 year old room, therefore, experience working with this age group and knowledge of EYFS is desirable. 

Our nursery is based in the grounds of The Hundred of Hoo Academy, a highly successful all-through academy that is easily accessible from Strood, Rochester, Hoo and surrounding areas. We’re a nursery like no other and here are just some of the benefits you will receive when working for us;

• A highly skilled nursery management team who have been with the nursery for over 20 years, utilising their experience in the best way possible
• We have fantastic facilities, particularly our outdoor spaces which our children thoroughly enjoy making use of
• Very strong relationships with both the primary and secondary school sites, allowing us to use their facilities and also offer interaction with older students
• A large pupil intake highlighting our popularity in the local area
• Opportunities to progress and gain additional qualifications
• Fantastic support and excellent relationships with the parents of our pupils

This is a permanent, term time-only position, working 35 hours per week (8.00am – 4.00pm) and offers an hourly rate of £11.87 (Level 3 qualified). If you have any questions in regards to the role and application process, please contact Rachel Cribben (Recruitment Advisor) on rachel.cribben@latrust.org.uk or 01634 412 258. 

Working with our nursery: At the Hundred of Hoo Nursery we aim to provide a safe and friendly play space where highly qualified practitioners organise our enabling environment to allow children high quality play.

We recognise the importance of working in partnership with parents, our highly effective use of Tapestry for our observation, planning and assessment cycle ensures that parents are engaged with their child’s day immediately and that they have the opportunity to share with us any learning opportunities that happens at home.

Our well-established key person system means that our practitioners are skilled and sensitive in helping children form secure emotional attachments. From these secure bases’ children are encouraged to develop their independence to explore the environment and gain increased confidence in their own abilities.

OFSTED July 2019 – ‘Staff are inspirational role models. Children are extremely polite and their behaviour is impeccable’

We use our amazing outdoor spaces to facilitate a feeling of awe, wonder and fun for our children. We recognise that children embrace the freedom and space that the outdoors gives them in a different way to indoors. Being outside gives us the opportunity to shout, jump, run around, hop and skip and a sensory experience not found inside.

Being part of Leigh Academies Trust: As of 1st September 2024, our Trust comprises 33 geographically organised academies (17 secondaries, 14 primaries and 2 special) educating more than 24,000 students and employing 4,000 talented staff. Currently, 14 of our academies are considered to be “Outstanding” which is nearly 50% of those which have been inspected whilst part of the Trust. The Trust is establishing four ‘clusters’ of academies: North Kent; Central Kent; South East London; Medway. In addition, the Trust is responsible for one of the region’s biggest initial teaching training organisations, a large teaching school hub and is an accredited apprenticeship provider. Our future plans are found in our Vision 2030 document available on our website.

As part of Leigh Academies Trust, you will have ample opportunity to collaborate with your peers both within the academy and across the whole Trust. This is an important part of our vision as we know through experience that we perform better when we work together. You are supported to undertake regular self-development to continue your professional development and hopefully progress further within the organisation.

Click here to view the benefits available to all LAT employees from day one.

Our commitment to safeguarding: Leigh Academies Trust and all of our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our pupils, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We adopt a fair, robust and consistent recruitment process across all academies and business units which is inline with Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. This includes online checks for shortlisted candidates – you can read more about this in our Recruitment Guidance. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check.

Our commitment to equality and diversity: As a Trust, we are passionate about diversity and recognise that as individuals, we all bring something unique to the role regardless of any protected characteristics which is why we treat all of our people equally, without compromise. We are committed to providing equality and fairness throughout our recruitment and employment practices and not discriminating on any grounds.

Based on the quality and quantity of applications received, Leigh Academies Trust reserves the right to close this vacancy sooner than the specified closing date.  Applicants will be notified of this where possible.  Therefore, early applications are encouraged.